She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain

In the classroom/library:

INTRODUCTION
GRADE LEVEL: Kindergarten
SUBJECTS: Language Arts, Fine Arts
OVERVIEW:
After interacting with book several times, children will create Southwestern animal stick puppets and act out text. Students will review background information, make predictions, participate in a read-aloud, sing, and re-enact She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain. Students will participate in an oral language experience through hearing the story, engaging with a picture book, and making connections about the Southwest to their own personal lives.
PURPOSE:
This lesson involves background information, predictions, and encompasses several other state standards that are integral to the kindergarten curriculum. The use of Southwestern animals will allow students to draw upon their own background information and make personal connections to the text and read-aloud. This lesson will broaden students' literacy. The lesson also requires that students use comprehension skills to follow instructions and re-enact a story.

Outcomes
Students will be able to:
1. Identify and describe the various animals living in the Southwest.
2. Illustrate (create and design) a Southwestern animal puppet that reflects their personal connections to the story.
3. Practice making predications.
4. Practice observing details and recalling information.
5. Relate prior knowledge to their own experiences.

Standards
Language Arts/Reading Standards
Strand 2: Comprehending Literary Text
Reading Concept 1: Elements of Literature
PO 1. Participate (e.g., react, speculate, join in, read along) when predictably patterned selections of fiction and poetry are read aloud.

Language Arts/Writing Standards
Strand 2: Writing Elements
Writing Concept 3: Voice
PO 1. Create pictures or text with distinctive personal style and originality.

Arts Standards/Theatre
Standard 1: Creating Art
1AT-Rl. Use natural language patterns (e.g., from literature or school and home
experiences) with familiar phrases as they play out a story
PO 2. Use dialogue and movement as a character while responding to teacher and/or peers

ELL Standards:
ELL I-V: Listening and Speaking
The student will:
" Express orally his or her own thinking and ideas. (ELL-L&S-1)
" Listen actively to the ideas of others in order to acquire new knowledge. (ELL-L&S-3)

EEL I: Reading
The student will:
" Analyze text for expression, enjoyment and response to other related content areas. (ELL-R-5)

Resources
Children's Book: She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain by Philemon Sturges, illustrated by Ashley Wolff.
Children's Song: "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain" by Fisher-Price Little People Songs & Games for the Road

Materials
Puppet Design Templates
Construction paper, crayons, markers, glue sticks, scissors, popsicle sticks, cloth material, feathers, and other various decorating materials

Process
1. Introductory Set
Ask students if they have ever heard the song "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain". Play the song for them to give students who are unfamiliar the background knowledge of the song. Tell students we are going to read them a story to the tune of this song. Discuss with students what they know about living in the desert and the animals that live there as well. If students mention any of the characters or landscape that are in the book, do a quick book walk to those pages to give them ideas for the puppets they will making later to reenact the story. Ask them to make predictions about who "She" is in they story.

2. Objectives
After we read She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain, students will be able to:
1. Participate in class discussions, speculate, and join in class read aloud when predictably patterned selections of the story are read.
2. Follow instructions to create unique stick puppets to reenact the story.
3. Make predictions using background knowledge and pictures.

3. Input
Read She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain as a read aloud. Show students a sample of the puppets they will be creating to reenact the story.

4. Modeling
Show students the character design templates and the different materials they can use to decorate their puppets. Teacher will show the students a finished sample of a character puppet and then go through the process of creating a puppet as a whole class. Teacher will complete the following steps while the class watches:
1. Select a character design template
2. Use crayon and marker to color the template
3. Select various materials (feathers, lace, sand, beads) and glue them onto the puppet
4. Glue a popsicle stick to the back of the puppet
5. Demonstrate how to use the sample puppet to reenact part of the story

5. Check for Understanding
Ask students what they are supposed to do. Review with them the following order:
1. Choose a puppet design template
2. Create puppets
3. Practice in small groups what their character will be doing
4. Reenact story as teacher reads

6. Guided Practice
Encourage students to talk in pairs or small groups to help create their puppets. Assist any students that may need help in creating puppets. Once their puppets are finished, allow students to practice what actions/noises their character puppet will perform.

7. Independent Practice
Not applicable

8. Closure
Once students have practiced their part of the story, repeat the book as a whole class and allow students to participate by reenacting what is happening in the story. Review the information that they learned about the book through their use of predictions. Discuss what they learned about creating a character puppet to reenact the story.
Review importance of good audience, listeners, and participants. Discuss with students how they can use what they have learned about background knowledge and prediction and apply it to other books they read in the future. State the connection this book has to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and have children discuss the similarities. For example, they are both books they read and sing along with.

Assessment
The students' Southwestern animal puppets, class discussion, and the dramatization or re-enactment of the story, will serve as assessments for this lesson.

Extensions/Modifications
Students will further investigate Southwest animals. Encourage children to checkout a non-fiction informational book about a Southwest animal and then describe the book to the class. Teacher may also read or invite students to tell additional stories about Southwest animals. Another extension would be to repeat the process with another story. For example, Yankee Doodle adapted by Mary Ann Hoberman; illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott.
Modify the lesson for your specific class needs. For example, if there are some students who require more time to finish their puppet make necessary accommodations and for students who finish early encourage them to assist their peers.

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